Not sure if this is the right place to post this (thought about putting it in the [email protected] section).

I've been using a reserator 2 for almost a year now to cool an 8800 GTX.
It has been folding 24/7 for a while now. A few months ago I added an Eheim 1046 pump because I thought the pump of the reserator had given in, later it turned out to be only the impeller.
The Eheim is functioning correctly.
When adding the pump, I drained the system and filled it up, using the same Zalman additive like before.

The problem: GPU got real hot lately (76 Â°C) and it turns out the black radiator is relatively cool, while the aluminium backside of the reserator is really hot.
When shutting down [email protected] and underclocking it, it still is over 50 Â°C.
I suppose I could still fold but the setup is not functioning correctly (better be safe than sorry).

Anyone know what could be the problem? Clogged up tubing of the inside of the reserator? The pump inside the reserator obstructing flow, or maybe even the impeller (I doubt the last, it has not been functioning even before I added the new pump).

How fast is the flow indicator at the front of the Reserator 2 spinning?

If you've got the submerged pump still disconnected inside then it will be restricting flow through the loop.

The water might only be circulating from the GPU waterblock to the silver reservoir too. If you look at the Reserator 2 manual diagram (page 16) having the internal pump turned off might result in at least some water being able to flow through the disconnected pump and back out of the Reserator 2 without passing through the black radiator.

The other thing to check is that your Zalman waterblock is still attached tightly to the graphics card. On my Zalman 8800GTS waterblock the spring loaded thumbscrews had come a bit loose and needed re-tightening. If the waterblock doesn't have good contact that could help explain why your card is getting hot.

The pump in my Reserator 2 failed a few months ago too. I've got a new one to put in but still haven't got round to it.

Check the waterflow through the blocks. The flow indicator should help.

Last month I fried my 8800GTX.
I was playing World of Warcraft. We were raiding. That's a 25-man effort, and you don't want to drop out and cause a problem for your team. My framerate was dropping from 40-50 normal, to 10-20. And then during our bossfight it dropped to 5-10 fps. I immediately shutdown my machine when the fight was over. But it was too late. My gpu had gone to 120C. My cpus (E8500) too.

It turned out that rust particles (or algae) got stuck in the cooling fins inside the 8800GTX waterblock. This complete blocked the waterflow through my system. I had replaced a clip that keeps the Eheim pump mounted inside the Resorator 1. I had noticed that the replacement clip (which was metal, not plastic), had started to rust at the top layer. I had planned to wait till the whole top layer would have rusted off, and then replace the water inside the sytem. I was too late.

I had a EK waterblock 8800GTX block. One half of the block is see-through plastic. I could see that inside the block there are cooling fins. I thought I read a while ago that those fins really don't matter. But EK put them there anyway. The small opening between the fins got filled with what seemed to be rust particles. Maybe some other dirt too, I couldn't see. Bad design, imho. A waterblock should just allow for maximum waterflow, and not for contact. The waterflow through the EK block seemed crappy too, as the change in diameter doesn't help much, I just saw larger parts of water not moving inside the block.

Anyway, check the waterflow. When my system overheated, I first felt the Resorator while I was playing the game. It was cold. I thought there was no problem. Only after I checked HWMonitor.exe I realized that I had no flow.

When I ran with the PSU, I noticed no wear on the Resorator. I can not really look inside the PSU, but from what I can see, there were no indications of any quicker oxidation or rust particles in my sytem or in the water.

When I removed the PSU, and brought in the 8800 waterblock, I also replaced the broken clip by a metal one. Then I immediately noticed the oxidation. It was a steel clip with a cover of some protective metal. The protective layer started to rust like crazy. But the metal underneath seemed fine. So I thought the top layer (1mm or less) would have gone in a matter of weeks, and the problem would then have been gone. About the EK waterblock, half of it is made in see-through plastic. I can see there's actually no rust process inside. So I assumed that the EK waterblock (electrolytic copper) and the Zalman parts worked together fine.

Anyway, the EK block is out of my system now. I'm using my old 7950GX2 the standard fan, while waiting to decide what to buy next. I just found out about the Accelero S1 Rev. 2 yesterday. I might buy a 4870/1GB and put an Accelero on it. (Nowadays I have a little airflow through my case again, so the Accelero should be fine).

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum